This study group provides an opportunity to explore fundamental philosophical problems surrounding death.

The Philosophy of Death study group provides an opportunity to ask questions such as: “What does it mean to die and who or what is the ‘person’ that dies? Is it merely a physical body, or is it also something like a soul, and, if so, does the existence of a soul indicate that there is some hope of immortality? What should our attitude toward death be and what effect should that have on the way we live our lives?” The study group uses a number of prominent philosophical and literary works—including those by Plato, Tolstoy, Montaigne, Jonathan Swift, Walter Kauffmann and Lucretius—to think about death philosophically.

skickat meddelande: Judaism, Christianity and Islam contend that we are not existentially free but that existence is bound by another layer of reality—the divine. Thus, time becomes a mechanism (an instrument) by which we pass through various phases in life to arrive at a relationship with God. Extension, that is to say the physical dimensions as we know them, are certainly restricting for humans but for the divine represent an opportunity to “speak more directly” to humans; namely, through miracles, which are suspensions of the physical laws of nature. Causality, cause and effect, is a mechanism whereby the divine judges us, it is the opportunity for divine justice and the ultimate judgment in which the good are rewarded and the unjust are punished.

skickat meddelande: In the Christian paradigm, humans descend (or are expelled from the Garden and forced) into the physical world. This physical world is not “free” of constrictions; rather it is full of them. To begin with, human life is bound by time, extension, causality and mortality. Existentialism, at this point, would have to agree. But where Existentialism seems content (or authentic from its viewpoint) is at this level of constriction. Outside of recognizing the requirements of temporality, physical extension, causality and mortality, Existentialism suggests that life (within this matrix) is what you make of it. This is at once, terrifying, dreadful and lonely, and honest and liberating. We sure can see this in Tolstoy’s work.

skickat meddelande: I am finishing up some of the readings and will be adding to the discussion on the activity wall shortly. Thank you for your flexibility regarding deadlines. I enjoyed tremendously reading The Death of Ivan Illyich. It seemed so familiar. It echoed so much of my experience working with patients and families while I worked with hospice. It seems that no matter who we are in life, with our vastly different experiences, we can be very much the same at our end. I have known many Ivans.

skickat meddelande: Greetings friends: It seems that most of us (myself included) are having a bit of a slow start. A few have just joined us as well. So, I thought it best to keep the comments going on Unit 1. Why don't we aim for having everyone post and/or reply to comments relating to Unit 1 by the end of this weekend (10/15)? Please post your comments on the following issues on the Activity Wall: 1) Describe the philosophical questions that surround the inevitable biological event of death; 2)Compare the philosophical notion of mind/body dualism with the idea of physicalism and how these doctrines imply different attitudes about death; 3) Discuss the fundamental arguments that Plato makes in his work Phaedo in regards to the immortality of the soul.